Southern Bound
by Lumineer
Summary: Jacob and Bella are on a cross-country road trip to Alabama with disappointing circumstances that led them there. Full summary is inside. AU. OCC. OCs. Bella x OC. Jacob x OC. OC x OC. Rated T for now.
1. Chapter 1

**Full Summary:**

What if the wolves of La Push didn't appreciate Bella's knowing about their secret? How would New Moon be different? When Jacob chooses Bella over his own pack, they tell him to leave. But where is a wolf to go with no pack and a scared human girl who seems to have a death wish? The south, of course. Another large wolf pack, almost as big as the La Push pack, resides in Alabama, one of the least active vampire states in America. Jacob hopes to join their ranks and prays that they will be accepting of Bella. All they have to go on is luck and that may not be enough. AU; OOC; OCs.

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Southern Bound

Chapter One

Jacob's Point-of-View:

We had been on the road for too long, eaten too much fast food, had spent too many nights curled around each other in the back of the car, and hadn't had enough time to think about the world as we knew it. Bella was restless; she always wanted to know how much longer it would take to get to Alabama. When we crossed the line into Mississippi, I thought she would piss herself.

The windows were rolled down and the surprisingly chilly air flooded the car, making Bella's unwashed hair fly around like crazy. She was giggling like mad, trying to keep the strands under control. I loved how she didn't care that neither of us had showered in two days. I loved how she smiled when I rolled down the windows, because she liked to stick her hand out of hers and pretend she was free. Which really, we were.

It had been a week since the La Push wolves had deserted me. They had angrily told me to choose: love or pack. I immediately chose love, because in no world that I wanted to live in would there be no Bella. She was broken but healing and I knew there could be a chance that another wolf could imprint on her or she could find love with someone else, but that didn't matter to me yet. Take it as it comes.

"Jacob," she whined, throwing her head back against the head rest. I glanced over at her, wondering how she was surviving in that cramped passenger seat. Our suitcases were piled in the trunk because we'd been sleeping in the back seat for the last few days. She hadn't changed since the day before yesterday. She didn't smell, but I wasn't sure about myself. "How much longer?"

I looked for the nearest road sign, but the sides of the interstate were bare. I shrugged, glancing at her again, "Maybe a few more hours. Four, tops." She groaned and turned her head to look out the window.

The road would've been hard on both of us if Bella had been born a girly girl. She would've been whining every 50 miles about needing to piss or eat. But she was a trooper and knew what it meant to travel cross-country in a little car. She'd packed a cooler empty of ice with snacks and sodas, even throwing in a few bottles of vodka for the, quote, "crazy nights." She'd also learned how to piss in a cup, which, in an unorthodox way, was kinda hot.

Even so, neither of us could ignore that itching anxiety the closer we got to Alabama. We'd snapped at each other a dozen times across the past few states, sat in an uncomfortable angry silence for hours afterwards, then Bella would go to sleep and wake up in a better mood. I'd only let her drive a few times, even though I was tired down to my bones. I was used to staying up for what seemed like forever. Patrolling was exhausting and you had to sleep afterwards; driving for days was more like, 'don't fall asleep behind the wheel or you'll die and probably kill the family in the car beside you, too.' No pressure, right?

Finally, after I-lost-track-of-how-many-days, we passed the "Welcome to Alabama" sign. Bella hooted and turned up the radio louder than necessary, singing along with some ridiculous pop song that I knew she hated. We'd heard it seventeen times since we'd left. Seventeen times. Still, she danced in her seat, seat belt unbuckled, unwashed unkempt hair tangling around her face, and singing so awfully that I knew she was exhausted. Bella was a good singer. She only sang bad when she felt bad or she was tired.

I pulled off the highway toward a small town just inside of the state. By then, Bella was half asleep, only moving when the crick in her neck became uncomfortable again. We both had cricks and aches and pains that made us even more tired. We both wanted a bed to stretch out in, but we were money conscious fuckers and only splurged on motel rooms when absolutely necessary. This was one of those times.

I parked near the office of the motel, turned off the headlights, pulled the key out of the ignition, and got out of the car to coax Bella out of her seat. I ended up half dragging her out of the car and even then she was like dead weight. Sighing, I picked her up and she laid her head on my shoulder, delirious in her half-sleep.

On the way to the office, she kept asking where we were. I chuckled, telling her that we were finally in Alabama and that we were getting a motel room for the night. She would nod, doze off for a few moments, then wake back up and ask the same question. When I shouldered open the door, she finally seemed to be deeply asleep.

"One room for the night, just one bed," I said quietly to the clerk. He nodded, typing the request into the cash register, pulling a key out of a drawer, and handing it to me. He smiled at Bella and we nodded a silent goodnight to each other. He wasn't greasy-looking, which was good. Bella was always worried about the clerks coming in the room while we slept to fondle us.

I decided to leave the bags in the car, knowing that neither of us would shower or change before bed. Instead, I carried Bella up the stairs and to our room, walking into the dark, Pine Sol-scented space. Balancing her in one arm, I pulled the blankets away from the bed and turned the pillows over, laying her down.

I stood up, stretching my taut muscles and wondering what exactly to do. Bella and I had slept in the same bed before, but for some reason, I was having cold feet. Sighing, I pulled off my jeans and my shirt and crawled in bed next to her. She sighed in her sleep, turning over to wrap her arm around my waist and nuzzle her face into my neck. I wrapped my arms around her, kissing the top of her head before quickly falling asleep.

**Author's Notice: I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Nathan's Point-of-View:

**Hint: **Yes, this is one of the Alabama wolves

Patrols ran smoothly that morning. We wound through the trees, Caleb's nose in the air and mine on the ground. Sniffing around a forest at three o'clock in the morning sounded boring, but it wasn't. With Caleb by my side, and especially when the entire pack was with us, the patrols were fun and, however uneventful, usually the most eventful part of our days. There were six of us, which made us the second largest pack that was known to our Elders, and only our alpha had ever actually seen a vampire.

It always made me wonder why we had phased if there weren't any vampires around. Other packs, like the ones in Oregon and Maine, had vampire activity all the time, even if the leeches were just passing through. Alabama got _nothing._ Not even the faded scent of one. Sure, when we took a trip to Ontario, Canada to help a newly formed pack, we smelled plenty of them. Hell, one even left a kill on the trail for us: a warning.

I had come close to seeing a vampire. A man with sandy blonde hair and skin paler than anyone I had ever seen before had zipped past me one night while I was running patrols with a new wolf in Ontario. I was just a pup then; I didn't know that I was supposed to run after it. All I knew was that the scent scared me. I ended up running home to Caleb.

Caleb was the alpha of the Alabama pack, nicknamed the Black Warrior Pack because our patrols stopped at parts of the shore of the Black Warrior River. I was his beta, even though I felt like I hadn't deserved it. It almost felt like special treatment. Caleb's wife and I had been best friends since childhood; our mothers still went to the grocery store together and I still spent half of the holidays at home and half at Allison's place.

Our pack had never seen any signs of imprinting in our members. We thought at first that Caleb had imprinted on Allison, but when they had a fiery break up during their second year of dating, it was clear that they had just fallen for one another quickly. They had been together for six years now; two of which they had been married. Allison was our pack mom, always cooking and watching out for us. She was a great girl. Young and beautiful with the kindest heart I'd ever seen, but she would smack us with a wooden spoon a little too hard for a human when we tried to dip our fingers in the cake batter she always seemed to be making.

I phased from my gray-white wolf form, rolling my shoulders and turning to Caleb, whose sandy brown fur still coated him. He cocked his head, looking up at me, but he wasn't paying attention to me. He smelled something, and so did I. I phased again, anger coming hot and thick at the scent of an outside wolf around our territory. He smelled like rain and sweat, along with something sweeter – perfume? The only females we knew of were in packs in Washington and Ontario.

Since it was just Caleb and I on that patrol, we ran together toward the scent. It didn't take us long to find him. We lingered on the edges of the forest, hidden by the damp trees and shrubs. He was talking to a girl, a slip of a thing who looked like she was about to claw his eyes out. He was shirtless and she was shivering against the cool breeze of the late summer night. It would get colder very soon and she would need a coat over that thin tank top she wore.

She was beautiful too. Legs one hundred miles long and light brown hair just as long; it brushed her slender waist, right about her ass, which was one of the nicest I'd seen in a while. Her jeans were soaked up to her knees and her shoes were definitely not fit for a walk in the damp forest in the early morning. She was pale, which either meant she never went outside or she was from up north.

"Bella, please, it's really not that big of a deal," the guy was saying, sighing in exasperation. Another breeze whirled by and I caught his scent; he was the wolf and she was the human. He smelled like the north; maybe he was from one of the Oregon or Washington packs. He definitely wasn't from the Ontario pack; after spending three months with them in the snow, I would know their scent anywhere.

"Jacob, I am not pissing in the fucking forest!" Bella shouted, clenching her fists by her sides. I snorted a soft wolfish laugh and Caleb shot me a look, telling me to be quiet. Though he looked like he was about to cough a laugh with that wolfish grin of his that he wore.

"Fine! We'll go back to the car, I'll change, and we can drive for another hour until we find a service station. Do you think you can hold it that long on these bumpy roads?" He was trying so hard not to laugh. And it really was funny; this skinny little thing wouldn't squat down and take a piss in the woods, even though she didn't look like much of a girly girl.

Bella shook her head, wavy brown hair falling over her shoulders. She hugged herself, shivering. Jacob stepped closer to her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close to his body. She sounded like she was about to cry when she murmured, "I hate the forest."

Caleb suddenly stepped out from our hiding place, Nike shorts already on and his hands raised in an innocent gesture. Jacob caught his scent immediately and whirled around, shoving Bella behind him. She stumbled and grabbed his bicep, but he ignored her, his eyes narrowed toward Caleb.

"If you think about attacking, just know that you are the one who stumbled onto our turf." Caleb's southern drawl hung in the trees, carrying the hint of a threat but the majority of friendly conversation. He had a way with people. I phased and yanked on my shorts as well, stepping out of the trees with my hands shoved in the pockets.

"Which pack are you from?" Jacob asked, his defensive stance relaxing very slightly. His fists were still clenched at his sides.

"Black Warrior. And you?" Caleb raised a light-colored eyebrow.

"La Push. From Washington." Jacob's stance relaxed even more, until he was almost in a submissive position. "I was hoping to find the alpha, and here he is standing in front of me on my first night here. My pack abandoned me. I came to Alabama hoping that another one would let me into their ranks."

I nodded toward Bella. "Why did you bring her then?"

He turned to look at her and gave her the most sickeningly loving look I'd ever seen. It made my stomach acids curdle. "I love her," he murmured. She blushed fiercely, but said nothing, averting her eyes toward her shoes. "I know that this is a big decision, but if you would just consider me."

"Why did they abandon you?" Caleb's stance was one of pure power. Hell, I wanted to get on the ground and show my throat to him. He was asserting his dominance, and it was working.

Jacob shrank back, almost cringing at the alpha power in Caleb's voice. "I told Bella about the wolves. They gave me an ultimatum: Bella or the pack. I chose her."

Caleb laughed then, harsh and too loud. I cringed, knowing that he was just being cruel for show. Still, it was rough seeing my alpha acting like an ass wipe. "That is very noble of you – at least nobility to your lady. Come with us. You can stay in the spare rooms at my place. Carry her on foot; she isn't ours to take care of." Caleb turned and darted into the forest and I quickly followed. I heard Jacob pull Bella onto his back, much to her very verbal displeasure, and he started after us.

**Author's Notice: I'm so sorry that it took so long for me to post this chapter, but here it is!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Nathan's Point-of-View:

We ran until our legs started to ache. Our human bodies weren't as durable as our wolf bodies and we had a smaller reservoir of energy as humans. When we finally stumbled to a stop in front of Caleb and Allison's house, we were panting a bit. Bella had her face buried in Jacob's neck and refused to let go of him, her arms locked around him in an iron grip. Caleb led us all into the front door and to the living room, where Allison sat on the couch with a mug of tea. Ben and Noah sat on the other couch. They were all watching the news, worrying over the tropical storm that was supposed to hit the Gulf coast within a week's time.

As soon as Jacob's scent wafted to their noses, Ben and Noah were on their feet, growling and gnashing their teeth. I saw Bella out of the corner of my eye and she cowered behind Jacob, her eyes wide in terror. I looked away when she glanced my way.

"Ben, Noah, stand down," Caleb ordered, swiftly walking over to the couch where Allison sat. He gathered his wife into his arms and kissed her once before murmuring in her ear to go upstairs for a moment. She nodded, kissed his jaw, and glanced at Jacob and Bella before heading upstairs. Caleb clapped his hands and the Black Warrior wolves stood to attention; Jacob tried not to look intimidated. "To be inducted into our pack, you must already have the basic instincts."

Caleb paced across the living room. "Know how to hunt, how to fight, how to patrol, how to track, and most importantly with this group of nut jobs, how to take a joke." Caleb grinned; Jacob looked like he was about to wet himself. "You're the little guy right now. You make one wrong move and we're all on you immediately. You look strong, but you're definitely not strong enough to take on six wolves at once."

Jacob shook his head, averting his eyes to the floor. Caleb watched him closely. "Basically, our induction process includes this: insert yourself into the pack, see where you fit, and if you fit in nicely, we keep you. If you act like a turd and throw your weight around, we kick you out. And if the reason for kicking you out is bad enough, you may be subjected to pack justice.

"Your bedroom will be across the hall from mine and Allison's. Ben, show him to his room." Ben nodded stiffly and motioned for Jacob to follow him. He followed obediently, seemingly forgetting about his terrified human girl.

"What about me?" Bella asked in a small voice. I looked over at her and her eyes were locked on Caleb's. She was looking one of the three strongest alphas in the United States right in the eyes and she wasn't even trembling.

"Yes, what about you." Caleb tapped his scruffy chin with his fingers and paced around Bella, looking her up and down. "You could be a mate to one of the boys. You could join Allison in being a pack mother. You could simply live around us, be within our group, attend the local high school – you're about seventeen, aren't you?"

Bella looked like she wanted to slap him. "I am not a _mate_. Nor am I your _servant_. The only reason I'm here is because Jacob dragged me on this trip and made me leave my home." She choked on her words and pressed her knuckles to her mouth, tears brimming in her eyes.

Caleb tilted his head, taking her in. She had a lot of fire; so much spunk that it got me a little hard. "You'll stay here until we find another place for you, unless you'd like to stay. We'll have to enroll you into the local school in the morning. You'll start classes on Monday." Caleb looked over at me. "Nate, take her to the other spare room."

I nodded and jerked my head toward the direction we would be going in. Bella followed me, her head bowed, and I could smell the tears on her cheeks. It hurt my heart and killed my boner to know that this gorgeous girl was crying. Why had she broken down? I wanted to know more about her than I should've wanted to. She was basically our guest; a girl that probably wouldn't stay long. She was a flight risk because she wasn't tied to our pack by her wolf, because she didn't have a wolf. She was just a girl.

I opened the door to the spare room and she stepped inside, looking around. The bed was on a short metal frame and pushed against one wall and there was a desk and dresser that shared the opposite wall. The room was painted a soft cream color and the bed sheets were maroon. She would look good in maroon. Her pale skin would contrast nicely. Suddenly I was thinking of her sprawled across those maroon sheets, spine arched, lips forming my name.

I physically shook my head before she turned around to face me. "Thanks for not killing us." I met her eyes then and I knew immediately that this would be the single most important moment in my life. It felt like the earth was spinning way too fast, but that we were both standing still while everything whirled around us. I was nauseated and elated and ready to puke and yell in joy at the same time. This girl suddenly became my everything and I didn't even know her last name.

"What's your name?" she asked me, something sparking in her dark eyes. They were the color of rain-soaked bark, of damp soil ready to produce life. "Mine is Bella Swan."

"Nathan Tyler," I murmured, a shiver running down my spine. I wanted to touch her; I wanted to hug her or hold her or simply brush my fingers down her arm. But I was anchored to my spot, staring at her with a dumbstruck expression that would've probably freaked her out if she didn't feel the imprint as well.

"I should probably get to sleep... Do you stay with the alpha too?" she asked, a little bit of hope making her mouth twist.

"His name is Caleb," I told her, smiling. "I do stay with him some nights. I'm in the room down the hall." I pointed in the general direction of my room, hoping that it didn't still smell like pot and incense. If it did, it was faint, because I couldn't smell it.

I reached behind me and gripped the door knob for stability. "Sleep well." I turned and walked out into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind me. My body was shaking and my instincts were yearning to be close to her, but I had to fight them. No matter what, I would not be rude to her. I would not be an ass or a jerk or a disgusting mongrel that only wanted to fuck her forever. Though with that tight little ass...

I shook my head again and sighed, running my fingers through my dark hair before retreating down the hallway and to my own room. The bed was unmade, clothes were scattered across the floor, and I'd left the small baggie of weed on my dresser. I swept it into my underwear drawer and flopped down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I was the first in my pack to imprint.

And fuck did it feel awesome.

**Author's Notice: How are you guys liking Nathan's point of view? Should I switch up the POVs or keep the majority in Nathan's?**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Bella's Point-of-View:

When I woke up, I felt rested. I hadn't felt rested since Jacob and I had left Forks. It was a wonderful feeling; I felt as though I'd slept for a month, that I'd gained some type of health points and peace of mind, and I felt... stable. I hadn't felt stable in a long time. Since Edward had left, really. Since he'd left me in the forest, everything about my life had been up in the air. And everything had only gotten worse when the La Push wolves disowned Jacob and left him stranded.

We had been somewhat dating for almost two months. Stolen kisses that were soft and mostly innocent, light caresses with finger tips that were afraid to touch too much, and nights of lying in my bed or his, staring at each other and speaking in hushed tones. We had bonded and Jacob had fallen deeper in love with me, but I hadn't changed. His kisses felt out of place and wrong, like they didn't belong to me. I hadn't told him that I felt nothing when he kissed me. I wasn't cruel. So, I endured the strain and emptiness of an almost-relationship with Jacob Black.

I sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I looked around and found a small alarm clock on the bedside table. It displayed in angry red numbers: 11:45. I tossed the sheets away from my body and stiffly got to my feet. My body ached from sleeping so late, but when I stretched and rolled my shoulders, I felt better. My dirty mud-stained clothes still hung on my body, but on further examination of the bedroom I'd been assigned, I found a pile of clothes on the stout dresser.

Men's Nike shorts and a woman's tee shirt displaying the University of Alabama at Birmingham insignia were folded neatly, a note lying on top of them. In feminine, pretty scrawl, it read: '_I hope that these clothes fit you. We'll have to get you some new ones soon. The bathroom is across the hall. –love, Allison_.' I smiled at her generosity and gathered the clothes, creeping across the hall and locking myself in the bathroom.

I turned and set the clothes pile on the bathroom counter, then made the mistake of looking up at my reflection. The girl that stared back at me had lank, dirty hair and she looked gaunt and exhausted; too pale with eyes that looked too large for her face and a dark smear of dirt on her cheek. Faded black makeup rubbed down below her dark eyes in an unattractive way, and lips chapped and cracked. I licked my lips and then turned from my shameful reflection, embarrassed that other people had seen me that way.

I turned the knobs for the shower, testing to see which was cold and which was hot. Finally finding a good medium, I peeled my dirty clothes off and carefully laid them on the bathmat, not wanting smears of dirt and grime to mar the pearly white tile floor. I took a long shower, letting the warm water flow over my body and loosen my muscles while simultaneously calming me and putting me at peace. Afterwards, I shut off the water, dried off with a towel that was folded on the back of the toilet, and dressed.

Tucked between the shirt and pants had been a bra and panties, which I silently thanked Allison one hundred times for. I looked at my reflection in the slightly foggy mirror and smiled. My hair hung around my face in long, damp, loose waves. My eyes didn't look as dark against my pale skin. My face didn't look as tired or gaunt. I looked refreshed and I felt as so. I exited the bathroom and ventured down the hallway in search of other people. It didn't take me long to find someone.

Nathan, the boy who had been with Caleb the night before, lounged on the couch, his eyes closed and his jaw lax in sleep. A football game played on the television, on mute, and I noticed that Alabama was beating the hell out of Arkansas. Leaving Nathan to sleep on the couch, I found the kitchen, where Caleb and Allison were scrubbing and drying dishes. Jacob sat at the table, somewhat awkwardly.

"Hey, you're awake," Allison said brightly with a kind smile that filled the kitchen with even more light. Jacob smiled too and stood, walking over to me and wrapping his arms around me. I understood the seemingly unnecessary display of affection: he was so grateful that he'd been accepted into the Black Warrior Pack, for now at least, and he was happy to see that I wasn't turning tail and running. I wrapped my arms around his back and laced my fingers together behind him.

"Jacob." Caleb's voice was a soft warning, one that had Jacob backing away almost immediately. A sad look washed over his features and it would've had more impact on me, but I heard the front door open and a chorus of whoops and hollers. We all peaked around the corner of the kitchen to see Ben and Noah, two of the wolves from the night before, along with two more wolves, dressed in football garb. They'd woken Nathan, who snarled violently at Noah when he flicked his ear.

Something about Nathan's lips pulled back over his teeth caught my attention. He looked so menacing, but I didn't feel any fear at all. When Jacob snarled or growled, a thrill of fear would race down my spine, but seeing Nathan's snarl only made me want to kiss his mouth back to normal. I physically shook my head and went to plant myself next to Jacob at the table, crossing my arms over my stomach.

Allison set a plate of food in front of me. "I kept this plate hidden and warm. Wolf boys eat like horses." She rolled her eyes in mock exasperation and spun back around to continue cleaning up the kitchen. Scrambled eggs, sausage links, two pancakes, three bacon strips, and two pieces of toast were all piled onto the plate. It looked like the leaning tower of breakfast and the smell coming off of the food was so inviting and mouth-watering that I tore into the meal without caring who witnessed my savagery.

"Hungry?" a voice asked with a laugh. His voice made my head snap up. His laugh made a colony of butterflies erupt into flight inside my stomach. Nathan stood across the table from me, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "We were convinced you'd sleep forever."

I smiled sheepishly and blushed, setting my fork down. He frowned, opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted when one of the two new wolves hooked his arm around his neck. "Yeah, we've all been waiting to meet the little girl that runs with wolves."

A feral instinct rose in me to pull my lips back over my teeth and snarl at him. My mouth twitched into half of the gesture and surprise lit Nathan's and the boy's face. "I'm not a little girl."

Nathan smirked and I found myself fighting the colony of butterflies into calmness again. "I beg to differ." He walked further into the kitchen and snatched an apple from a fruit bowl. He took a deep bite, the crisp crunch of his teeth against the skin making something tingle down my spine.

"I'm eighteen years old – I am _not _little," I insisted. I glared at him and he grinned at me around his apple.

"You're so tiny. How tall are you? 5'2"? And I bet you barely weight 110." That comment earned a sharp smack on the arm from Allison, who was wielding a wooden spoon. "Ow! Dammit, Allie, you know I didn't mean anything rude by it!"

"Never discuss a girl's weight," she scolded, waving the spoon in his face. She shot me an apologetic look and continued to clean.

"Regardless," Nathan continued, his eyes meeting mine again, "You're tiny and female; therefore, you are a little girl."

I clenched my fork in my hand and growled – actually _growled_ – at Nathan. He looked taken aback, and then he smiled fondly, like he was proud of me. The expression was so blatant and pure that I blushed and turned my attention back to my plate. Jacob shoved away from the table and stomped outside. Caleb and Noah followed him quickly, shutting the door tightly behind them. Nothing was said about the exit.

"So," one of the new wolves said, sitting down beside me and holding out a large tanned hand, "My name is Liam. That shithead over there is Connor, and you've already met Caleb and Allison, as well as Ben, Nathan, and Noah." I nodded and shook his hand, almost surprised by how little I cared that Jacob had just stormed out of the house without an explanation. Nathan sat down near me, but not directly beside me, and I yearned for him to sit closer. I said nothing, just ate my breakfast and watched the mid-day banter that went on between the pack.


End file.
